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Formed Jun ??, 1981 in New York, NY
Genres Rock
Style Styles Thrash, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Rap-Metal
Labels Labels Megaforce (8), Island (3), PolyGram (2), Island Visual Arts (2), Elektra (2)

 


Nearly as much as Metallica or Megadeth, Anthrax has been responsible for the emergence of speed and thrash metal. Combining the speed and fury of hardcore punk with the prominent guitars and vocals of heavy metal, Anthrax helped create a new subgenre of heavy metal on their early albums. Guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz are a formidable pair, spitting out lightning fast riffs and solos that never seem masturbatory. Unlike Metallica or Megadeth, they had the good sense to temper their often serious music with a healthy dose of humor and realism.
After their first album, Fistful of Metal, singer Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello joined the lineup. Belladonna helped take the band further away from conventional metal clichés, and over the next five albums (with the exception of 1988's State of Euphoria, where the band sounded like they were in a creative straight-jacket), Anthrax arguably became the leaders of speed metal.
As the '80s became the '90s, Anthrax began to increase their experiments with hip-hop, culminating in a tour with Public Enemy in 1991 and a joint re-recording of PE's classic "Bring the Noise."After their peak period of the late '80s, Anthrax kicked Belladonna out of the band in 1992 and replaced him with ex-Armored Saint vocalist John Bush -- a singer that was gruffer and deeper, fitting most metal conventions perfectly. Subsequently, their sound became less unique and their audience shrank slightly as a consequence, but it would be foolish to count Anthrax out -- these guys are too clever to fade away.

 

Similar
Artists
Megadeth , Metallica , Slayer , Living Colour , Stormtroopers of Death , Nuclear Assault
Death , Sabbat , Sacred , Reich , Tankard , Manowar , Autopsy , Bolt Thrower
Cryptic Slaughter , Dark Angel , The Dead Youth , Hell Bastards , Hexx , Jerry's Kids
Leeway , Morgoth , Sacred Denial , Thanatos , Vendetta , Public Enemy , Pantera
Cancer , Corrosion of Conformity , Entombed , Biohazard
Roots and
Influence
Black Sabbath , Motörhead , Run-D.M.C. , The Sex Pistols , Venom
Followers Sevendust , Cannibal , Corpse , Panic , Wehrmacht , Biohazard , Body Count
Perfomed
Songs By
Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, Neil Turbin, Norbert Krief, Eric Sadler, Hank Shocklee,
Bob Spickard, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, Glen Buxton, Angelo Badalamenti,
Michael Bruce, Joe Jackson, Ace Frehley, Alice Cooper

 

1984 Fistful of Metal Megaforce
1985 Armed and Dangerous Megaforce
1985 Spreading the Disease Megaforce
1987 Among the Living Megaforce
1987 I'm the Man Megaforce
1988 State of Euphoria Megaforce
1988 State of Euphoria [Clean] Island
1990 Persistence of Time Megaforce
1991 Attack of the Killer B's Island
1993 Sound of White Noise Elektra
1994 Live - the Island Years Island
1995 Stomp 442 Elektra
  Oidivnikufesin [N.F.V.] PolyGram
1993 Penikufesin Alex 
1993 Black Lodge Elektra/Asylums
1988 Statements from Euphoria: Interview  Megaforce
1991 Attack of the Killer B's: The Videos Island Visual
  N.F.V.  
  N.F.V. [Clean Version]  
  Through Time P.O.V. PolyGram
  Live Noize Island Visual
1987 Power Chords, Vol. 1   Atlantic
1991 Public Enemy Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes B    
1994 Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved    
1996 Bordello of Blood [o.S.T.] Producer, Mixing   
  Return of the Living Dead [Pt. 2]    
  Wild BunchWild Bunch